We must continue to look forward

This is primarilly about India, it's them I support but the same really applies to Pakistan. This final is a great thing, if India wins the WC it will be brilliant, especially having two huge rivals against each other in the final I can't wait, but especially if India win it I think it is vital that we push forward instead of trying to consolidate where we are. Winning twenty twenty is a good thing, but twenty twenty is a new format, it doesn't yet have the prestige of the other versions nor does it have the long term safety, I think it's very important that we don't become a country content with being the worlds best 20-20 side, when it has been demonstrated no more clearly than with Zimbabwe beating Australia, 20-20 is not as accurate a reflection of a teams quality than ODI or test cricket. Obviously winning 20-20 is better than loosing 20-20, but doesn't anyone else think that the fact we have peformed better without Sachin suggests it's not a true reflection on cricket? I don't know, I hope we win tommorow but I also am more eager to see how we do against the Australians in the odi series and even more importantly tests, I hope this gives us a huge mental boost which we ride off into the odi's but for me the beating England in the test series was the highlight of this year so far.

This is probably the best, most level headed post I've seen from an Indian after the victory. But prepare to get bashed. It's a great post, but suggesting anything other than the fact India are better than Australia, that Twenty20 is a brilliant, brilliant game and India have improved by 100% in all formats because of this will get you banned.

The biggest reason that Indian/Pakistani fans are celebrating the way they are is that qualifying for the T20 final makes up for the humiliation the fans and the teams went through in the real WC.

Anyway, completely agree with the opening post (and I think you'll find a fan in silentstriker).

Oh and SST, the reason you have been lambasted in the past few hours is not because you were trying to convey this very message, rather that you were being a complete tool (see your closed thread). You came off as very bitter after the loss to India and people reacted to your posts in the right manner.

You can dominate the game, have one bad over and then the match is lost....Plus, umpiring mistakes are magnified in this format.

I don't think anyone in the competition can claim to have been scuppered by the umpiring or bad luck.

There are fewer tough decisions for the umpires to make - there's generally less doubt with the edges. More dismissals will be caught in the outfield or bowled. There are fewer tricky decisions from defensive shots where the ball, pad and bat are all close together.

We must continue to look forward........

Twenty20 like other formats reflects who played the best - because the best team wins.

Look like any version of any sport if you play enough games you will find the strongest team will end up winning a greater percentage no doubt. But a case in point is Afridi's bowling, he takes a wicket tonight and he's the leading wicket taker of the tournament, is he a better bowler than Clark, Sing or Vettori? Personally I don't think so.

You can dominate the game, have one bad over and then the match is lost....Plus, umpiring mistakes are magnified in this format.

Quit it. Your team didn't win this version so you blame it on the umpires but the truth is the opposite. Imagine in a test match first ball of the game someone is wrongly given out lbw, say an Australian Hayden, now that is a huge dint from the start, however you loose Hayden first ball of a 20-20 at the end of the day it'll probably be of little consequence.